Yahoo Autos Two American Formula 1 Races Are Enough
Next year Formula 1 will add a second United States Grand Prix to its calendar for the first time since 1984. It's the crowning achievement of an overwhelming success story in the U.S. for Liberty Media, a turnaround that saw what one of America's most niche sports blossom into a cult hit with a sizable, sustainable fanbase. That Miami race projects as an immediate success, but Liberty Media wants to stretch their American dreams even further. Paddock buzz seems to indicate a return to Las Vegas could be next, 36 years after a famous and confounding run of Grands Prix in the Caesar's Palace parking lot.
Unlike Miami, Las Vegas would be a mistake.
With just one race in the U.S., Formula 1 has reaped the benefits of domestic success. The grand prix in Austin was sold out a month in advance, and it acts as the in-person culmination of a year of anticipation. In a normal year, the media catches up with F1 all at once during a week designed to generate and maintain domestic buzz. In a year like this, with F1 audiences in the US as hungry as ever, we're seeing drivers make appearances on TV shows that would've never considered booking one before. The event atmosphere is palpable even if you aren't at the track, making Sunday a day every American Formula 1 fan looks forward to.
With two races, you divide that appeal. For fans, it means you can catch F1 cars racing in Miami if you can't get tickets this weekend. For Austin, it means losing some of the "the-circus-is-in-town" appeal to another market. The hope is that there's enough inertia to sustain two US Grands Prix. It looks promising, particularly at an exciting new venue like Miami.
But a third race divides that hype even further. While a race in Las Vegas would leave the physical markets spread out enough that the races would still draw healthy local crowds, the appeal of flying into an event from other parts of the country diminishes every time a new event is added. Sunday's sellout proves that demand won't be satisfied by a single race, but is it large enough to justify three? What about the other existing North American rounds in Canada and Mexico?
